Process of producing axminster pile fabric



Patented May 30, 1950 PROCESS OF PRODUCING PILE FABRIG axmms'rsn HenryA. Reinhardt and Charles R. Johnson,

Long'meadow, Mass., asslgnors to Bigelow-Sanford Carpet (70., 1110.,Thompsonville, Conn, a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing.Application November 7, 1946, Serial No. 798,444

H 4 Claims.

Our invention relates to an Axminster pile fabric, carpet or rug, and tothe process of producing the same. The object is to produce such afabric in which the pile tufts are abnormally twisted and yet form apile, which fully covers the backing fabric and has the soft texturerequired in Axminster pile floor coverings, and in which the twist inthe tuft legs is permanent, i. e., unaffected by wetting, as in washingand shampooling.

So far as we are aware, all attempts made heretofore to produce anllxminster fabric with such a pile have not been successful dueprincipally to the difiiculties of feeding hard twisted yarn through thetubes of an Axminster loom and of laying the ends uniformly against thereed.

Our invention is concerned with the treatment of hard twisted, set, andkinky wool yarns to straighten them out so that they may be woven in anAxminster loom without such difficulties, and with the treatment of theAxminster woven fabric to produce a soft texture pile of twisted,swollen tuft legs which effectively cover and conceal the backingfabric.

The hard twisted, set, kinky wool yarn may be produced by any suitableprocess but we prefer the following as producing a yarn which is bestadapted to our treatments above outlined. The wool, with or withoutother fibers, is dyed in the raw stock, processed and spun into strandsin the usual way. The strands, which may have from two to live turns perinch, are twisted abnormally, i. e., about ten turns to the inch andreeled into skeins. The skeins are removed from the reels. whereupon theabnormal twist in the yarn causes it to coil upon itself and form kinks.The twist is set by immersing the skeins of yarn, relieved of tension,in water, with or without a wetting agent, and, after excess water iscentrifugally removed, the skeins are subjected to steam, preferably atabout 260 F., for about 30 minutes in a closed chamber in which thepressure is maintained at about pounds per square inch aboveatmospheric. The resulting wool yarn is hard twisted, set, and kinky,and in this condition could not be employed, as pile yarn, in anAxminster loom.

In carrying out our process we first apply sufficient tension to theyarn to straighten out the kinks and wind the yarn in such straightenedcondition on spools preferably having perforated cores. We prefer towind the yarn in a dry state as we have found that it has then highertensile strength and the winding may be accomplished more efliciently.But the yarn may be wound wet 2 if desired. The yarn on the spools isunder a strain which, if the tension were relaxed, would cause the yarnto kink.

We nextv wet the spooled yarn in water, pref- 5 erably hot to acceleratethe process, or by steam and then dry it by any suitable means. The useof spools with perforated cores expedites the drying. The dried yarn hasits original abnormal twist, but the strain or resiliency, which hascaused the kinks, has been substantially removed or relieved so that theyarn when relieved of tension, as byunwinding from the spools, does notkink. We wind the yarn on the spools of an Axminster loom. In thisunklnked condition the yarn ends are drawn through the tubes of theloom, uniformly laid against the reed and pushed up into the shed by theupward movement of the comb, as in conventional Axminster weaving. Wethus avoid the formation of distorted random ends which would haveoccurred if the tendency to kink had not been removed and which wouldhave prevented the proper drawing of the yarn through the tubes and theuniform laying of the yarn against the reed.

We then wet the woven fabric with. water or steam whereby the legs ofthe pile, while retaining their twist, become soft and expand or swell.After drying the fabric the pile surface has the desired soft textureand thoroughly covers and conceals the backing fabric. This is instriking contrast to the condition of the pile after having been woven,when the legs of the pile are thin and wiry so that the pile surface hasa harsh texture and the backing fabric may be seen through the pile. Thewetting can be done satis factorily by immersing the fabric in hot orcold water or by spraying it with hot water, but we prefer to steam thefabric for about ten minutes at to C. We have found water to be asatisfactory wetting agent, but other wetting agents, if desired, may beused or added to the water. The final step of drying the fabric may becarried out by any suitable apparatus, preferably in a drying chamberthrough which hot air is circulated.

Our finished Axminster fabric has a permanently set, swollen, twistedpile which retains its twist when the fabric is wet or shampooed. Ourfabric is claimed in our copending application Serial No. 61,768, filedNovember 24, 1948.

We claim:

1. The process for the production of an Axminster pile fabric havin pileof wool yarns hard twisted to such a degree that they have a tendency tokink which comprises treating a kinky 8 hard twisted wool yarn havingthe kinks set therein, to temporarily remove the kinks and inhibit thetendency of the yarn to kink when relieved of tension, by wetting theyarn and then drying the yarn under sumcient tension to straighten outthe kinks, winding the kink-free yarn on the spools of an Axminster loomand weaving the yarn on said loom as the pile of an Axminster pilefabric, and then wetting and drying the legs of the pile of theresulting Axminster pile fabric, whereby the tendency of the pile yarnto kink is restored, and the legs of the pile are softened and swollenwhile retaining their twist.

2. The process for the production of an Axminster pile fabric havingpile of wool yarns hard twisted to such a degree that they have atendency to kink which comprises treating a kinky hard twisted wool yarnhaving the kinks set therein, to temporarily remove the kinks andinhibit the tendency of the yarn to kink when relieved of tension, bywetting the yarn and then drying the yarn under sufliclent tension tostraighten out the kinks, winding the kink-free yarn on the spools of anAxminster loom and weaving the yarn on said loom as the pile of anAxminster pile fabric, and then wetting the legs of the pile of theresulting woven Axminster fabric by exposing its pile face to steam atatmospheric pressure and drying the fabric, whereby the tendency of thepile yarn to kink is restored, and the legs of the pile are softened andswollen while retaining their twist.

3. The process for the production of an Axminster pile fabric havingpile of wool yarns hard twisted to such a degree that they have atendency to kink which comprises twisting wool yarn sufllciently tocause the yarn to kink when relieved of tension, setting kinks in theyarn by steaming the yarn at a pressure above atmospheric while the yarnis relieved of tension and kinky, treating the resulting kinky hardtwisted wool yarn having the kinks set therein, to temporarily removethe kinks and inhibit the tendency of the yarn to kink when relieved oftension, by wetting the yarn and then drying the yarn under sufficienttension to straighten out the kinks, winding the kink-free yarn on thespools of an Axminster loom and weaving the I 4 yarn on said loom as thepileof an Axminster pile fabric, and then wetting the legs of the pileof the resulting woven Axminster fabric and drying the fabric, wherebythe tendency of the pile yam to kink is restored, and the legs of thepile are softened and swollen while retaining their twist.

" 4. The process for the production of an Axminister pile fabric havingpile of wool yarns hard twisted to such a degree that they have atendency to kink which comprises twisting wool yarn sufficiently tocause the yarn to kink when relieved of tension, setting kinks in theyarn by steaming the yarn at a pressure above atmospheric while the yarnis relieved of tension and kinky, treating the resultin kinky hardtwisted wool yarn having the kinks set therein, to temporarily removethe kinks and inhibit the tendency of the yarn to kink when relieved oftension, by wetting the yarn and then drying the yarn under sufficienttension to straighten out the kinks, winding the kink-free yarn on thespools of an Axminster loom and weaving the yarn on said 100m as thepile of an Axminster pile fabric, and then wetting the legs of the pileof the resulting woven Axminster fabric by exposing its pile face tosteam at atmospheric pressure and drying the fabric, whereb the tendencyof the pile yarn to kink is restored, and the legs of the pile aresoftened and swollen while retaining their twist.

HENRY A. REINHARDT. CHARLES R. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,815,027 Murch July 14, 19311,823,034 Dworsky Sept. 15, 1931 1,823,053 Lawton Sept. 15, 19311,989,535 Stolzenberg Jan. 29, 1935 2,058,948 Blumenthal Oct. 27, 19362,120,844 Wolfenden June 14, 1938 2,238,098 Bradshaw Apr. 15, 19412,430,425 Jackson Nov. 4, 1947

1. THE PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF AN AXMINSTER PILE FABRIC HAVING PILE OF WOOL YARNS HARD TWISTED TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT THEY HAVE A TENDENCY TO KINK WHICH COMPRISES TREATING A KINKY HARD TWISTED WOOL YARN HAVING THE KINKS SET THEREIN, TO TEMPORARILY REMOVE THE KINKS AND INHIBIT THE TENDENCY OF THE YARN TO KINK WHEN RELIEVED OF TENSION, BY WETTING THE YARN AND THEN DRYING THE YARN UNDER SUFFICIENT TENSION TO STRAIGHTEN OUT THE KINKS, WINDING THE KINK-FREE YARN ON THE SPOOLS OF AN AXMINSTER LOOM AND WEAVING THE YARN ON SAID LOOM AS THE PILE OF AN AXMINSTER PILE FABRIC, AND THEN WETTING AND DRYING THE LEGS OF THE PILE OF THE RESULTING AXMINSTER PILE FABRIC, WHEREBY THE TENDENCY OF THE PILE YARN TO KINK IS RESTORED, AND THE LEGS OF THE PILE ARE SOFTENED AND SWOLLEN WHILE RETAINING THEIR TWIST. 